Chapter Twenty-Five



Phillip pulled up next to the car that Victor had driven up to the school in. As soon as he and Lucas got out of the car, they could hear the fire alarm shrieking and the sound of fire trucks in the distance. Lucas looked up at the school, wishing he knew what was going on. He motioned for Phillip to come with him up to the school. Phillip closed all the doors of his car and locked them. Before closing the last door, he ducked his head in.

"We'll be back here as soon as we can." Phillip promised Nicole, who was still sitting in the backseat.

Nicole nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." she responded, watching as Lucas and Phillip raced over to the school. They found the front school doors locked but Lucas didn't want to waste any time. Phillip and Lucas began working frantically to break down the door. After ramming into the door several times, the door finally gave away and the two hurried inside.

Victor continued advancing on Sami, adrenaline rushing through him at the idea of killing her. After Sami, he would get rid of the other two women that were trying to destroy his family. He had planned to kill Nicole all along, when she began doubling her efforts to make Brady want her. Then she had went after Phillip and succeeded, hardening his resolve to kill her. He hadn't wanted to kill Cassie but she wasn't right for Brady, Chloe hadn't been either. He didn't want his son and grandson throwing away their lives. He was doing this for them.

Sami backed up another few steps and tripped over a weight lifting machine. She flew backwards, crashing onto an exercise mat. Victor lunged at her, landing on top of her with his knife still poised and ready. He began slashing at her with the knife and Sami instinctively raised her arm to ward off the knife. It made contact with her arm and she let out a loud scream of anger and pain. Victor just smiled and continued lashing out at her with the sharp knife.

Lucas heard the scream that he knew was unmistakably Sami. He followed the direction the sound had come from, hoping he could find her before it was too late.

Sami looked to the left and right of her, wanting to find something to protect herself with. She saw a small barbell lying next to her and reached for it while trying not to distract Victor. But he was so caught up in trying to kill her that he didn't notice she had moved at all. Her fingers squeezed the object tightly and without warning she brought the barbell up and hit Victor with it. It hit his head hard and he reeled back from the hard blow. Sami saw this as her chance to escape and brought her foot back, then drove it into the most sensitive area she could think of.

Victor let out a pained yelp and the knife flew out of his hands. It was only about thirty seconds after that when Lucas and Phillip came into the weight room. At the sight of his father rolling around on the floor while holding his hands between his legs, Phillip's jaw dropped open in shock. Lucas stared in shock for a few seconds too. It was not a position you ever expected to see the great and powerful Victor Kiriakas in.

Once the shock wore off, Lucas became gripped by an uncontrollable rage. This was the man who had been making Sami's life a living hell. And Lucas was going to keep the promise he had made to himself, the promise to make the killer pay. He brought one boot down over Victor's hands, giving him another hard blow in the exact spot Sami had. Victor let out a few more pained moans. Lucas shook his head and aimed his gun right for Victor's head.

"I'm going to make you rot in hell where you belong." Lucas told him, preparing to pull the trigger. But Phillip refused to just stand there and watch someone kill his father, even if Victor was a cold-hearted killer. He grabbed Lucas' arm and pulled it down, then froze in shock at the sound of the gunshot.

Victor's leg jerked in pain as the bullet sliced through his flesh. He rolled around on the floor for a few seconds longer, then passed out. Lucas noticed Sami lying a few feet away and his heart sank. Phillip flicked on the lights and Lucas took in the sight of her. Her hair was fanned out wildly behind her and he saw that her arms and one of her legs were bleeding. He rushed over to her and she barely managed to sit up. Now that the danger had passed, she felt so weak that all she wanted do was fall asleep. With Lucas' arms wrapped around her.

Lucas pressed her head against his chest, unable to believe that he had come so close to losing her again. Phillip was standing nearby, talking on his cell phone.

"That was too close, baby." he whispered in her ear, "I'm not going to let it happen ever again." Sami shuddered in his arms and he pulled her tighter.

"Is Nicole okay?" she asked suddenly, her voice low and breathless with exhaustion.

"She's fine. We think she broke her leg jumping out of a window but other than that she's perfectly okay." Lucas said softly, pressing one hand against her cheek, "I'm so sorry I let this happen. I'll make it to you, Sami. I'll give you anything you want."

Sami looked up at him, her blue eyes shining with affection for the man holding her, "I want you to kiss me." was all she said. Lucas didn't need any prompting. His kisses came hungry and fierce at first, trying to make himself believe that she really was right here, alive and wanting him to touch her. When he finally realized that she wasn't going anywhere, the kisses started becoming tender and slow. Sami was still shuddering in his arms, glad that Lucas was there and that he had saved her from Victor.

Phillip coughed, reminding the two that they weren't alone. Sami looked over Lucas' shoulder and gave Phillip and appreciative smile, "I'm glad you guys showed up when you did."

"It looks like you were doing fine on your own." Phillip replied, shaking his head in disbelief, "I still can't believe that my dad killed Chloe and Belle. I looked up to him so much."

"I'm sorry, Phil." Lucas said sympathetically but wasn't able to resist shooting a hateful scowl in Victor's direction, wishing he had been able to shoot the bastard in the head when he had the chance.

"Well, the ambulances and police should be here soon." Phillip informed Lucas and Sami, "Nicole had already called them from her cell in the car." he looked back over at his father and winced, "You just had to go and kick him right there, didn't you, Sami? That had to hurt."

"Actually, it didn't hurt me a single bit." Sami retorted and Phillip tried to smile.

"From now on, I'm going to make sure never to get on your bad side." Phillip told her and Sami looked almost proud of herself. That was when Phillip finally noticed the back of Lucas' shirt, which was drenched with blood.

"Jesus Christ, we had better get you to the hospital before you flood the whole school." Phillip exclaimed and Lucas then managed to take his mind off how good it felt to hold Sami and felt the wet, sticky feeling on his back. He reached behind him and gently took hold of her wrists. He examined them carefully, his eyes darkening as he noted each knife gash. She was going to need stitches and lots of them. His gaze travelled down to her right leg, which was covered with cuts from the glass.

"I hate him." Lucas seethed, "I hate him for hurting you."

"Lucas, it's okay. It doesn't hurt that much." Sami shifted slightly, accidentally causing one of the shards of glass to dig deeper into her leg. She inhaled sharply and Lucas could see the pain flickering across her face.

"The ambulance should be here soon. We should go outside." Lucas said, wrapping his arms around Sami, careful not to touch any of her cuts. As he lifted her off the ground, Sami stared at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I'm carrying you." he replied, making it sound like it should have been obvious.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking." Sami countered, "You don't need to carry me, I'm perfectly fine. I think you're just looking for an excuse to touch me. I want you to put me down right now."

Lucas didn't let go of her, "Why do you always find some reason to argue with me, Sami?"

"Because I like arguing with you." Sami explained, a mocking smile on her face, "It turns me on. It always has. Didn't you know that, Lucas?"

Lucas grinned, glad that she was able to bounce back so quickly from being attacked by the Salem Serial Killer. Not many women were able to do that but it was one of the things about Sami that made him love her even more, "I think that's enough talking. You'll wear yourself out. Besides, even if it turns you on, arguing with me is not going to make me put you down. You couldn't pay me enough to let go of you."

Sami was glad he was being so firm with her about the issue. Even though she wouldn't admit it, there was no way she wanted Lucas to stop touching her. She clung to his neck as he and Phillip walked out through the school doors to meet the flashing lights of ambulances, police cars and fire trucks.